The Blue Men of the Sahara 解密“撒哈拉蓝人”

The Blue Men of the Sahara 解密“撒哈拉蓝人”
The Blue Men of the Sahara is a name for the Tuareg people. People call them this name because they often wear blue clothes and the pigment in the cloth easily stains the wearer’s skin dark blue. There are between 300,000 and one million Tuareg today. They have lived in the Sahara Desert for thousands of years. It is hot, dry, and windy there. Their lives are difficult because of the desert weather and life.

The Tuareg do not live in one place. They move from place to place to find water and food for their animals. The Tuareg live in groups of four or five families. Everybody helps each other. The Tuareg live and sleep in the tents. Tuareg tents are usually made of animal skins, but today some Tuareg have plastic tents.

The Tuareg dress in a special way. The men cover their faces. The women do not. The men travel a lot in the desert. They need to protect their faces from the dry air and sand.

The Tuareg men have many customs about their faces. They start to cover their faces at age 25. They do not cover their faces for friends. They use black or white cloth. The cloth is five yards long. They wrap the cloth around their face and neck. You see their eyes, but you don’t see their nose and mouth.

Every Tuareg man wraps his cloth in a unique way. In this way, everyone knows each other. On special occasions, they cover their faces with blue cloth.

Tuareg men marry women from the same group. They often marry cousins. The Tuareg women have a lot of freedom. They decide important things about their lives. The Tuareg women have long hair and are very beautiful.

Today, many Tuareg do not live in the desert. Countries around the Sahara Desert do not want groups of people going from place to place. Many Tuareg now live in towns. Soon it will be hard to find the Blue Men of the Sahara.

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“撒哈拉蓝人”指的是图阿雷格人。人们这样称呼他们是因为他们常穿蓝色的衣服，而这种蓝布的染料又容易把穿衣人的皮肤染成深蓝色。图阿雷格人已在撒哈拉沙漠里生活数千年了，如今他们的人数在30万到100万之间。撒哈拉沙漠气候炎热、干旱而且风力强劲。恶劣的沙漠气候与生活条件使得图阿雷格人的日子十分艰难。

图阿雷格人并不在一个地方定居。为了给他们的牲畜寻找水和食物，他们不停地从一处迁徙到另一处。四五个图阿雷格家庭聚居在一起生活，互相照应。图阿雷格人住在帐篷里，这些帐篷通常是由动物皮制成的，但如今也有些图阿雷格人使用塑胶帐篷。

图阿雷格人的穿着很特别。男人们会用头巾遮住他们的面孔，女人们却不这么做，因为男人们经常在沙漠中跋涉，他们需要保护自己的脸免受干燥的空气和沙子的伤害。

图阿雷格男子的遮脸习俗还有很多讲究：25岁时开始遮住脸部，不在朋友们面前遮住脸部。他们用（来遮脸）的布是黑色或白色的，布长5码；他们用这样的布包住自己的脸部和脖子，眼睛露在外面，但鼻子和嘴是看不到的。
每个图阿雷格男人裹布的方式都很独特。正因如此，每个人都可以辨认出彼此。在特别的场合，他们会用蓝布遮住脸。

图阿雷格男人会娶同一部落的女子，通常就是自己的堂姐妹或表姐妹。图阿雷格女子享有很多自由，她们一生中的重大事情都由自己来决定。她们留着长发，非常美丽。

现今，很多图阿雷格人已不住在沙漠里了，（因为）撒哈拉沙漠周边的国家不希望一群一群的人四处迁徙。如今很多图阿雷格人住到城里去了。不久的将来，“撒哈拉蓝人”就该踪迹难觅了。